Health Care Without Harm is deeply alarmed that the U.S. Senate has passed its version of the budget reconciliation bill – reckless legislation that will go down as the most destructive environmental and health bill in U.S. history. This short-sighted policy rolls back important clean energy tax credits, which have already saved hospitals and health systems $154 million over the past two years.
The Senate bill undermines sustainability efforts across the health sector precisely when we need them most. Health Care Without Harm’s analysis shows 91 hospital and health care projects across 34 states are currently using or were planning to use these energy tax credits. Without them, many of these projects face cancellation – threatening the financial viability of projects that could deliver similar savings nationwide. For rural hospitals already operating on reduced budgets, these cuts could mean the difference between keeping doors open or permanent closure – leaving entire communities without access to critical care.
By stripping support for clean, American-made energy, this bill will make the energy grid less reliable, impacting health care facilities' ability to operate and provide care, just as extreme weather is also increasing in frequency and severity, with 100 million Americans currently under an extreme heat threat. It will harm our air and water and put our health at risk through higher local air pollution, and will contribute to hundreds of premature deaths and more cases of asthma and cancer, particularly among children and seniors, and in low-income communities, communities of color, and other marginalized communities that are disproportionately impacted. These health impacts will be exacerbated by cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act as more than 17 million people lose their health care coverage. This will increase uncompensated care, lead rural hospitals to close, destabilize our nation’s health care system, and increase health care costs for all. We urge the U.S. House of Representatives to reject this incredibly harmful bill.
"Our health and our ability to thrive – as individuals, families, communities, and as a country – is in danger because of the increasing instability of our climate. More than any other industry, health care is seeing the impacts of this crisis on public health," said Gary Cohen, co-founder and president of Health Care Without Harm. "While this bill represents a dangerous step backward, our commitment to environmental health extends far beyond any single piece of legislation. We remain dedicated to mobilizing health care climate action locally, nationally, and globally. We will continue scaling health sector emissions reduction solutions, expanding health care's leadership in building climate-resilient communities, and working to restore the critical infrastructure this legislation seeks to dismantle."
Media Contact: April Galarza, Communications Manager, press@hcwh.org